Systems Design Eng - Modern Standby Specialist Job Listing at AMD in Austin, TX (Job ID 84592-en-us)

Description

WHAT YOU DO AT AMD CHANGES EVERYTHING 

At AMD, our mission is to build great products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences—from AI and data centers, to PCs, gaming and embedded systems. Grounded in a culture of innovation and collaboration, we believe real progress comes from bold ideas, human ingenuity and a shared passion to create something extraordinary. When you join AMD, you'll discover the real differentiator is our culture. We push the limits of innovation to solve the world's most important challenges—striving for execution excellence, while being direct, humble, collaborative, and inclusive of diverse perspectives. Join us as we shape the future of AI and beyond.  Together, we advance your career.  

THE ROLE:  

We are seeking a Principal level engineer with deep, hands-on expertise in Windows Modern Standby (S0ix) to lead the strategy, and execution of our platform's low power and sleepstate capabilities. In this role, you will help define AMD's Modern Standby behavior, shaping the tools, methodologies, and system designs that enable cutting-edge power efficiency across our products. This position requires strong architectural judgment, fluency across firmware, drivers, OS internals, and hardware interactions, and the ability to guide multiple engineering teams toward best-in-class Modern Standby reliability and performance. 

THE PERSON:  

You will define and drive the technical vision for power and sleep-state analysis infrastructure, mentor senior engineers, and influence cross-company decisions that determine how our products behave under real-world conditions. If you thrive on solving complex power/sleep problems at scale, and enjoy designing systems and tools that elevate entire engineering organizations, this is a highly visible, high-impact opportunity.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:  

Technical Leadership

• Serve as the top subject-matter expert on Windows Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle), driving platform strategy and long-term roadmap. 
• Influence and guide cross-functional engineering teams—including firmware, silicon, OS integration, driver development, and validation—toward Modern Standby best practices and compliance with Microsoft guidelines. 
• Provide deep technical leadership in identifying, diagnosing, and resolving complex Modern Standby failures, regressions, and cross-layer interactions spanning hardware through OS. 

Advanced System Analysis & Debugging

• Lead technical investigations using advanced tools such as:
  • ETW tracing and Windows Performance Analyzer (WPA)
  • SleepStudy, PwrTest, powercfg, and related diagnostic utilities
  • Device runtime PM analysis and ACPI validation
    
    
• Drive and review analyses related to: 
  • S0ix residency and DRIPS engagement
  • Sleep entry/exit timing
  • S0i3 system power optimization
  • Timer resolution and wake source behavior
    
• Driver, service, and device power blockers 
  • Set technical direction for reducing background activity, improving idle behavior, and eliminating systemic sources of wake or residency degradation. 

Tooling, Frameworks & Automation

• Define the next generation of power and Modern Standby analysis tools, enabling scalable debugging across scripted CI workloads, customer like workloads, and full OS images. 
• Define measurement methodologies, data pipelines, and triage automation frameworks that accelerate detection and root-causing of power regressions. 
• Provide technical leadership for building cross-team dashboards, automated reports, and continuous monitoring systems for power and Modern Standby KPIs. 

Cross Organization Technical Influence 

• Mentor and coach senior engineers, raising the organization's technical bar in Windows power, sleep, and diagnostic analysis. 
• Serve as a key technical partner with platform hardware, firmware, silicon teams, Microsoft engineering counterparts, and product leadership. 
• Establish standards, documentation, and best practices that shape how the organization validates, analyzes, and optimizes Modern Standby across multiple product generations. 

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:  

• Advanced experience in hardware/software engineering, platform integration, power/performance engineering, or OS/driver development. 
• Deep, authoritative knowledge of Windows Modern Standby, including: 
  • S0ix/DRIPS architecture 
  • ACPI low-power states and device runtime PM 
  • Windows power frameworks (PoFx, WDF power model, device idle policies) 
    
• Expert-level experience with:  
  • ETW, WPA/Xperf, SleepStudy, PwrTest 
  • Debugging complex interactions between OS, firmware (UEFI/EC), drivers, silicon, and hardware 
    • Proven track record designing or architecting tools, frameworks, or automation used by multiple engineering teams. 
    • Strong coding/scripting expertise (Python, PowerShell, C/C++, or equivalent). 
• Leadership experience in multi-team technical initiatives in power, sleep, or system optimization. 
• Experience with firmware/BIOS development, ACPI table design, or low-level hardware bring-up. 
• Familiarity with advanced data instrumentation, telemetry systems, or large-scale automated validation frameworks. 
• Ability to communicate complex analysis to executive audiences and influence high-level product decisions. 
• Prior experience driving technical strategy for Modern Standby or equivalent low-power state architectures in shipping products. 

ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS:  

• Bachelors or Masters degree in electrical or computer engineering 

This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

#LI-CB1

Benefits offered are described:  AMD benefits at a glance.

AMD does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies, or fee-based recruitment services. AMD and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity, inclusive employers and will consider all applicants without regard to age, ancestry, color, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, political and/or third-party affiliation, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.   We encourage applications from all qualified candidates and will accommodate applicants' needs under the respective laws throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

AMD may use Artificial Intelligence to help screen, assess or select applicants for this position.  AMD's “Responsible AI Policy” is available here.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.